Breakfast
by Standard-Ang3l
Summary: Nate drags an overworked Ella to breakfast.


This is for angellwings. Because the Jaitlyn spam isn't enough. jk. LaPaige's prompt for **breakfast**.

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Nate walked into Ella's studio Sunday morning and stopped short at the sight of her slumped over her desk. She was still clutching a pencil in her hand and she had a bunch of fabric swatches strewn over the desk's surface.

"Ella? Ella? El?" Nate asked, gently trying to shake her awake. "Eleanor?"

Ella snored loudly and lifted her head up sharply from the desk. Nate resisted the urge to laugh as he leaned forward and peeled off a draft of an outfit that was stuck to her cheek.

"_Don't_ call me Eleanor, Nathaniel."

"Well, maybe you should actually, you know, sleep on the Murphy bed we all bought you for occasions like this," Nate said.

"I accidentally ripped the sheets when I washed them last…I haven't gotten around to buying replacements yet."

Nate sighed heavily. "El, just…come on. Let's go to breakfast and then I'll buy you some sheets, okay?"

Ella's eyes lit up and she smiled excitedly. "The Orange Grove Diner? Pleasepleaseplease?"

He rolled his eyes. "That's where you always want to go."

"Because it appeals to everything I ever want to eat. Essentially."

"Except for that bruschetta at the Italian place near me, right?"

Ella gave him a look. "You mean the bruschetta you told me you made that one time we all came over to your place for my birthday?"

Nate shrugged. "Jason and Shane were giving me grief over the fact that I can't seem to cook anything ever."

Ella laughed as she grabbed her purse and pulled Nate out of her studio and down the stairs to the street. "Maybe you should actually get a girlfriend who can, you know, cook. And teach you how. That's the only reason Jason and Shane have managed to learn how to make anything beyond macaroni and salad."

"Can we not talk about my non-cooking exes?" Nate said with a sigh. "Let's just eat some breakfast, alright?"

"Fine, fine. But you're paying because you Eleanor-ed me."

Nate smiled and threw an arm around Ella's shoulders. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you. So, how much damage do you plan on doing?"

She grinned up at him. "Depends on what the specials are."

After they sat down at the counter and looked over the menu, Ella nudged Nate in the side.

"Ready for your wallet to take a hit?"

"What do you want?" he asked heavily.

Ella turned to the waitress and smiled. "I'd like a Vietnamese coffee, custard French toast, scrambled eggs with cilantro and tomato, corn beef hash and the fruit cup."

"Where are you going to fit all this food?" Nate asked.

"My hollow leg, like always."

"And for you, sir?" asked the waitress.

"I'd like black coffee, two poached eggs, rye toast, and half a grapefruit."

"Is that all you're going to eat?" Ella whined. "Come on. At least get one other thing…please?"

"Fine. I'll have some cottage cheese too."

"EW! Gross, Nate. You will not be having that. You will have…" Ella said, scanning the menu. "You will have a slice of quiche Lorraine. Got it?"

"But I already have poached eggs…"

"Fine. Get the meat plate. Bacon, eggs, ham, corn beef hash. Then you can have your precious poached eggs."

"I hope you're willing to tell our trainer what you made me do when I see him later today."

"You mean, keep you from starving? Durr." Ella smiled at him and then reached for the basket of biscuits.

"Gee, thanks, El. That means so much to me," he said, pulling the basket towards him.

"You're welcome. Totally glad to help any of my boys out."

"Your boys, huh? I don't think Caitlyn or Mitchie would be happy to hear that."

Ella snorted. "We all call you 'our boys'."

"Really?" Nate did like the sound of being one of Ella's boys.

"Don't get such a big head, Nate. It's not attractive."

"Mitchie seems to like Shane well enough."

"Mitchie can take Shane down a notch or twelve."

"And what about Cait and Jason?"

"Jason takes her down a notch or twelve. For entirely different reasons."

"And what about…us?" he asked slowly.

Ella flushed pink and looked down at her silverware.

Then the food arrived, and Ella quickly dug into her plate.

Nate rolled his eyes and pulled her plate away from her.

"Nate!" she whined. "Don't! My food!"

"Just tell me…what about us?" he asked. "You can have your food back afterward."

Ella looked down at her hands and smiled softly. "I'm the one that takes you down a notch or twelve. Because sometimes you get carried away and forget how to, you know, function as a human."

"I'm not the one who woke up slumped over fabric swatches with drawings attached to my face."

"Nate, shut up or I'll stab your hand with my fork."

"Okay, okay, here's your food."

"Good. Thank you."

"We're talking about this notch thing later, though," Nate said.

"Why?" Ella whined.

Nate grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips.

"We'll talk about it later," she said softly.


End file.
